Exchange Distributing Co. v. Oslin

158 So. 743, 229 Ala. 547, 1935 Ala. LEXIS 8
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedJanuary 17, 1935
Docket6 Div. 578.
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 158 So. 743 (Exchange Distributing Co. v. Oslin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Exchange Distributing Co. v. Oslin, 158 So. 743, 229 Ala. 547, 1935 Ala. LEXIS 8 (Ala. 1935).

Opinion

KNIGHT, Justice.

Proceedings for recovery of compensation under the Alabama Workmen’s Compensation Act (Code 1923, § 7534 et seq., as amended), instituted by Mrs. Willie A. Oslin, widow of the deceased employee, E. G. Oslin, suing for the benefit of herself and the two minor children of the deceased.

*549 Upon the trial of the cause, the court entered judgment awarding compensation as claimed, and it is to review this judgment that the cause appears in this court on petition for certiorari.

The judgment was rendered in the cause on the 14th day of February, 1934, and on the 15th day of March, 1934, the defendant, em-pioyer, ified a motion to set aside the "verdict" and to grant it a new trial. This motion was regularly continued "on motion of the parties," to April 28, 1~34, upon which date the court overruled the same, the defendant duly reserving an exception to this astion of the court.

The cause has been submitted here on motion to dismiss the appeal and on the merits.

The appellee takes the position here that, as the statute provides for review in compensation cases only by certiorari, and as the statute also provides that the aggrieved party must apply for the writ within thirty days from the rendition of the decree, the application or petition to this court for writ of cer-tiorari came too late, the decree awarding plaintiff compensation having been entered on February 14, 1934. The further contention of the plaintiff, respondent to the petition here, is that a motion for a new trial, though timdly made, cannot serve to extend the time for filing petition for certiorari. In this, movant is mistaken.

Of course, the appeal by certiorari must be taken within thirty days from the decree; and in reviewing compensation pro~ ceedings, the time of taking the appeal is jurisdictional. We have so held. Bessemer Engineering & Construction Co. v. Smith, 216 Ala. 348, 113 So. 290; Woodward Iron Co. v. Bradford, 206 Ala. 447, 90 So. 803; Ex parte Louisville & Nashville R. R. Co., 214 Ala. 489, 108 So. 379; Minge v. Smith, 206 Ala. 330, 89 So. 473; Burgin v. Sugg, 210 Ala. 142, 97 So. 216; Walden v. Leach, 201 Ala. 475, 78 So. 381; Coker v. Fountain, 200 Ala. 95, 75 So. 471; Boshell v. Phillips, 207 Ala. 628, 93 So. 576.

Likewise, we have held that if an appeal is not taken within the time provided by section 6127 of the Code, it would be dismissed, being a jurisdictional matter. Burgin v. Sugg et al., supra.

However, this court is committed to the proposition that a motion for new trial, seasonably made, suspends the judgment, and it does not become final, for the purpose of an appeal until the motion i~ disposed of; and the time within which an appeal from a judgment, after the rendition of which a motion for a new trial has been seasonably made, must be taken nader section 6127, begins to run from the date the trial court rules upon the motion for a new trial. Florence Cotton & Iron Co. v. Field, 104 Ala. 471, 16 So. 538; Stallings v. Clark et al., 218 Ala. 31, 117 So. 467; Liverpool & London & Globe Ins. Co. v. Lowe et al., 208 Ala. 12, 93 So. 705; Wilder v. Bush, 201 Ala. 21, 23, 75 So. 143; Shipp v. Shelton, 193 Ala. 658, 682, 69 So. 102.

In the case of Birmingham Clay Products Co. v. White, 226 Ala. 89, 145 So. 668, 669, the observation is there pertinently made, that "circuit courts and the judges thereof are invested with plenary power in the application and enforcement of the Workmen's Compensation Act, and are authorized to proceed summarily in ascertaining the facts. We entertain no doubt that they have the power and jurisdiction, on timely application and for good and sufficient cause, to vacate and set aside a judgment previously rendered, and re-examine the facts. Such power is essential to the administration of justice. State ex rel. Anseth v. District Court of Koochiching County, 134 Minn. 16, 158 N. W. 713, L. R. A. 1916F, 957; 28 R. C. L. 827, § 118."

It is thus apparent that the courts have the same power over judgments and decrees under the Workmen's Compensation Act, as they possess over judgments and decrees in other cases. The same rule which would suspend the operation of a judgment or decree in ordinary cases at law, pending consideration of a motion for new trial at law, applies to judgments and decrees under the Workmen's Compensation Act.

We are at the conclusion, therefore, that the motion to dismiss the appeal in the case, which was taken by certiorari within thirty days after the motion for new trial was overruled, is without merit, and must be overruled.

We are thus brought to a consideration of the appeal on its merits.

The court, on consideration of the evidence, and the facts agreed on by the parties, awarded the plaintiff compensation for the accidental death of her husband.

This court long since announced the rule governing review here of cases arising under the Workmen's Compensation Act. We have uniformly held that, if there is any rea.-sonable view of the evidence that will support the conclusion reached by the trial court, the finding and judgment will not be disturbed. Birmingham Clay Products Co. v. White, supra; Ex parte De Bardeleben Coal Co., 212 Ala. 533, 103 So. 548; Ex parte Sloss- *550 Sheffield S. & I. Co., 207 Ala. 219, 92 So. 458. If there is any legal evidence to support the court’s finding, it is conclusive.

The record before us presents but a single question, Was there any legal evidence offered on the trial that supported the court’s findings? If there was, we will not disturb the conclusion of the "court.

The rule declared in Cobb v. Malone & Collins, 92 Ala. 630, 9 So. 738, will not be applied in considering here motions for new trial in cases arising under the Workmen's Compensation Act. Birmingham Clay Products Co. v. White, supra.

The defendant, in its answer, admitted ‘‘that plaintiff was the wife of deceased, E. G. Oslin, at the time of his death; that plaintiff’s intestate was employed by the defendant ; that plaintiff’s intestate was run over by a speeding automobile and that he received injuries thereby which a few days later resulted in his death.”

The defendant denied, however, that at the time of the alleged injury the plaintiff’s intestate was-engaged in the business of his employer.

On the trial of the cause it was agreed between the parties to the suit: “That deceased ■ wag employed by the defendant at the -time of his death; that if the defendant is. sufejp#. to the Workmen’s Compensation Act of Alabama, and if the plaintiff is entitled to recover compensation at all for the death of deceased, she would be entitled to recover compensation under the Workmen’s Compensation law at the rate of $14.00 per week for a period of three hundred weeks, unless liability therefor otherwise terminated by operation of law.”

The evidence shows without dispute that the defendant, the Exchange Distributing Company, is a brokerage concern dealing in fruits and produce, and occupied a part of a certain large building, which was located on First avenue and Tenth street, in the city of Birmingham, Ala.

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Bluebook (online)
158 So. 743, 229 Ala. 547, 1935 Ala. LEXIS 8, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/exchange-distributing-co-v-oslin-ala-1935.